Britons who rose to meet challenge of frightful peak

It was an epic tale of intrepid Englishmen experiencing triumph and tragedy on a seemingly unconquerable peak that was seared on to the nation’s conciousness by an account in The Times.

Climbers and tourists have flocked to Zermatt this weekend to celebrate the 150th anniversary of the conquest of the Matterhorn by Edward Whymper, a 25-year-old illustrator from London, who led six flannel-clad companions to the summit — and then lost four in a fall on the way down.

The Swiss resort owes its fame to the publicity that exploded around Whymper’s expedition of 1865.

Despite inquiries at the time, suspicion still surrounds an accident that began when Douglas Hadow, a 19-year-old climbing novice, slipped as the group descended a ridge on the north face,…